


The time is ticking away

by Multi_Elle



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: (more or less), Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, I swear, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, NEXT TAG IS A SPOILER read only if you are easily triggered, Rated M for Violence and like they curse twice, Temporary Character Death, Turn back time AU, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:09:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24843592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multi_Elle/pseuds/Multi_Elle
Summary: "Lucas doesn’t know what he is still hoping for at this point, rolled up into a corner of this cell as he had been for the past few days, but it surely isn't for Ten to slide his cell door open."---------Inspired by the 'Turn Back Time' MV and from a short story which link should be accessible if I didn't do anything wrong
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Liu Yang Yang/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery
Comments: 8
Kudos: 99





	The time is ticking away

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [minute by minute](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821602) by [strawberrv](https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrv/pseuds/strawberrv). 



> Formatting on ao3 is going to be the death of me so sorry for the big space between lines ^^' Also, I am not a native english speaker so please excuse any mistake I could make...and feel free to tell me if you find any that alter the comprehension of the story!
> 
> Now please, enjoy this story!

Lucas doesn’t know what he is still hoping for at this point, rolled up into a corner of this cell as he had been for the past few days, but it surely isn't for Ten to slide his cell door open.

He didn't shed a single tear since they arrived here but he feels like breaking down crying the moment blonde and pink hair enters his vision. He told him it was dumb when he dyed it, but now the neon pink strands are the only thing keeping him sane.

" Ten? You managed to escape? " he mutters, his voice breaking with every word.

His friend smiles softly, walking towards him. " Yeah. Took me some…some time, but I managed to snatch this " he says, showing Lucas the translucent red glass rectangle he holds between two of his fingers.

A key card. How much effort did it take him to get ahold of this??

Lucas tries to sit up, immediately discouraged by the sharp pain in his back which brings him back onto the ground with a muffled scream. He knows how hard it would be for Ten if he wasn't quick, and he didn't want to be a burden.

The older his next to him now, a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

" I heard them talking about your wings. I…I'm sorry Lucas I-"

" It's okay " he reassures him, forcing out his first smile in weeks. " I know you can't go that far. I'll manage alright? At least I'm a normal human now " he jokes, but Ten doesn’t seem to find it funny. Lucas didn't find it funny either when they carved them out of his back, ignoring his screams. It was more than a part of his body that he got robbed of, it was part of his  _ soul _ .

At least they had the decency to apply bandages to his wounds. Not good enough to stop him from bleeding, but good enough for Ten to be unable to see how bad they are.

" We have to go. The others are still caged. Do you think you can walk? " Ten asked, helping him get up.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can. "

" Do you think you can run? "

Lucas furrowed his brows, but nodded nonetheless.

" They don't know you escaped, right? "

"Not  _ yet _ " he answered, which didn’t make things better for Lucas, at all. " Come on, next cell is Hendery's."

" Ten, wait" he said, stopping his friend with his arm and forcing him to look at him in the eyes.

" How many times? " he asked, his voice deep, serious. " How many times did you come to save me already? "

Despite all of his friend's efforts, Ten averted his gaze, maybe to hide how watery his eyes have gotten.

" About fifteen by now " he says, voice so tiny Lucas could almost forget how powerful he really was. The most powerful of them all.

" What is the best-case scenario so far? "

Ten's eyes meet his again. " Only you and Yangyang die. There is no good case scenario if that's what you're asking. "

Lucas bit his lip, his grip getting stronger as if he was afraid Ten would shatter. None of them could begin to imagine what Ten's eyes had seen, but he silently swore to always protect them no matter what.

" Let's make this a good case scenario then " he said, managing another smile, a real one this time.

Before Ten could answer he had already taken his hand and in a flash, they were out of his cell and on their way into the steal corridor.

Even without his white, majestuous wings Lucas wasn't exactly a normal human. He was still stronger, faster. Probably why  _ they _ kept him alive.

The Earth's moon was a hostile place, they knew that, or at least they thought they did. Because they couldn't grasp exactly how bad it was until they were all cuffed in steel and plexiglass cells, in various states of  _ bad _ .

Ten got his keycard out of his pocket again and placed it onto a second room's captor, making the door slide open in just seconds.

He knew Ten had seen this several times now but for Lucas it was the first time, and he decided that maybe his tiny cell wasn't that bad.

Hendery was immerged into a transparent box full of water from the chin down, nose and mouth barely surfacing, looking seconds away from losing all energy and drowning.

Lucas spared another glance at Ten.  _ Did he see that happen too? _

They rushed to him and as soon as they were close enough Lucas threw his fist into the glass, shattering it into thousand of shiny shards, making the water flow all around the room and Hendery fall onto the ground, soaked and coughing.

Ten gave a few hard slaps to his back, making sure he got all of the water out of his lungs and trying to get him to dry.

Hendery was breathing, it was what mattered. Sharply, with a nasty wheezing sound but he was breathing.

" Y…yang.." was all he managed to get out of his severed lungs and shivering blue lips. It was enough for the two others to understand, though.

" He's the next person we'll go looking for, I promise. Don't worry " he said, rubbing soothing circles onto his back.

The only way to make this experience even worse was to have the person you loved the most trapped here with you.

_ Ten would know something about that _ .

While Hendery still struggled to recover, Lucas pulled him aside.

" Hey Ten…the humans, they kept them alive? "

" Yes, luckily " he answered, making Lucas release a breath in relief. " What I understand is that they’re trying to get information out of them to find other Weishein people. But they're in a bad state and it had already happened that Kun passed before we got to him so we better hurry. I'll carry Hendery " he said, but Lucas stopped him again before he could get their friend.

" I'm pretty sure I end up begging you to be the one carrying him despite my wound every time we have this conversation, am I wrong? "

Ten averted his gaze, a hint of a smile dancing on his lips. " Yes, you do. Let's go then "

Lucas smiled at him before going to Hendery, putting him on his back despite his protests. They didn't have any time to waste.

They were back running into the corridors of the maze-like facility, the sound of their boots against the steel floor resonating through their apparent emptiness. There were only a few guards on the base because of its escape-proof reputation, but clearly they weren't ready for Ten.

" By the way, how come there is no blaring alarm and guards running after us? " asked Lucas, which tore a grimace out of the older.

" Oh don't worry, that will happen in no time. But they made the mistake to place Xiaojun's cell next to the control center of the base, and he was the first one I freed so for now he's using his electric abilities to jam the surveillance devices. They usually find him after twenty minutes so we better hurry.

Lucas nodded, and they ran faster.

Overall the cells were carefully planned.

Walls made of titanium for Lucas so he couldn't use his strength to punch through them, a box full of water for Hendery so his fire powers would be of no use, cell of plexiglass for Xiaojun so his electricity powers couldn't find anything to conduct them and chains all over Winwin so he couldn't clap his hands together, which would allow him to teleport.

Their only, and biggest mistake was to think Ten was human when he actually was the most powerful of all of their crew's Weisheinies. 

They arrived in front of Yangyang’s cell and as soon as the key card opened the door Hendery jerked himself away from Lucas ‘s back and crawled his way to Yangyang’s frame which was lying, motionless, in a corner.

“ Yangyang, hey Yangyang can you hear me? “ he murmured, his voice finally back as he put his hands on both sides of his lover’s face.

His eyes fluttered as he came back to consciousness, immediately widening when they fell on Hendery. He shot up and engulfed him in a bone-crushing hug, one of the rare sights - if not the only sight - Ten was actually happy to see over and over.

Both him and Lucas looked away with a smile, giving the teenagers the privacy they deserved after this nightmare of a week.

Lucas remembered how outraged Kun had been the first time he had caught his own son kissing one of his crew members, a male on top of that, but he also remembered his smile as he asked Hendery to take care of Yangyang for him only a few month later in the cockpit of their ship, under an ocean of stars.

Love wasn’t going to save them now, though. Often, too often one of them ended up sacrificing himself for the other. And they couldn’t afford that.

“ Hendery, Yangyang, we have to go. We still have to get Winwin and Kun free. “ said Ten, hating to be the one to break their moment.

Yangyang turned back to them, and they winced when they saw the nasty white scar on his right cheek.

“ Is my dad okay? “ he asked with a small voice, afraid of the answer.

“ He will be if we hurry. Can you carry Hendery or do you want Lucas to-”

“ It’s okay, I’ll do it “ he stated before he could finish his sentence, all traces of weakness gone from his being as he took his boyfriend on his back, leading the way out of the room.

“ Teenagers “ said Ten with a small laugh, which earned him a nudge from Lucas.

They had grown so much.

Next stop was Winwin’s cell, who was in the better shape out of all of them. Which was setting the bar low, but still. Lucas and Ten ran up to him to free his hands and legs of the multitude of chains that crippled them and left dangerously red marks.

“ Can you teleport? “ asked Lucas, to what Sicheng nodded.

“ I don’t have a lot of energy. So I can but alone, and very little.”

Which was Sicheng’s polite way to say that if he was to use his abilities, they better not fuck it up.

They were quick to get to the final cell, Kun’s cell, and if it wasn’t for Hendery on his back Yangyang probably would have collapsed.

His walls which probably used to be padded with white material were lacerated, full of scratch marks. His hands were red, his nails damaged and his body bruised, but he was alive.

So far, they were all alive.

Their pilot slowly got up, his eyes staring into the void until they fell onto Yangyang and only then he allowed a tear to go down his cheek, immediately wiping it out to hug his son, careful not to crush his boyfriend in the process.

“ I...I tried to escape and come to look for you, all of you but I didn’t...I didn’t…”

“ ‘Pa, it’s okay. It’s okay “ said his son, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

Lucas used this moment of respite to softly nudge at Ten.

“Hey, so far everyone’s alive right?”

As if on cue an alarm starting blaring into the hallways, ricocheting on each and every one of them, who all had the same expression of terror onto their faces.

“ So far, yes. We’ve got to get Xiaojun and oxygen masks, and then we’re out of here “ he said, like he probably had said dozen of times. Failing each time, one after the other.

Lucas promised to make sure this time was the time they succeeded.

They moved as fast as possible for six deeply wounded men including one who was too weak to walk, the alarms rendering them nearly death, adrenaline shooting through their veins.

Sounds of steps, not theirs this time, started to echo through the facility, coming closer and closer.

The first person they saw was Xiaojun, running at full speed towards them, a bag full of oxygen masks in his right hand. The second, third, fourth and fifth person they saw were the guards running right behind him, guns in hand, ready to shoot.

“ RUN “ immediately screamed Ten, and the seven - well six, Hendery still was on Yangyang’s back - obliged in seconds.

They were not fighters. Their crew had been formed by Kun to protect them. Despite, the only ones with any offensive abilities were Hendery and Xiaojun, but the former was soaked in water and half-conscious and the latter couldn’t safely use them in a corridor made of iron without risking electrocuting them all.

Ten had spent too much time talking to Lucas in the beginning when he had figured out this wasn’t the first time he tried to save them, and usually they found Xiaojun before the alarms went off - or people started dying before that. He was in unknown territory, or so was proven when they ran into a dead-end, cornered by their assailants.

They could not run anymore.

They all turned back, accepting their fate. This still could work out. They couldn’t know before they shot their shot, anyway.

Hell broke loose in a matter of second, Lucas charging onto the guards with his full strength, Kun throwing hands and getting ahold of a gun, Yangyang busy protecting Hendery, Winwin teleporting around with the last straws of energy they had.

Their fight only had one rule: make sure Ten survived. As long as he still breathed and had energy they were safe.

As soon as a way cleared they started running again, in the opposite direction, and finally, finally they were able to see it.

The exit door.

It was only a pull of a lever away.

“ Xiaojun, give me the bag “ ordered Ten, starting to give away the oxygen masks as soon as he got a hold of it.

Soon everyone had them on.

And a terrible realization struck Ten.

He only gave out six of them.

“ Where’s Lucas? “ he asked, everyone’s eyes widening in fear as they realized he was nowhere near them. And you don’t just lose a 6ft tall guy. Something must have happened.

Before anyone could suggest going back with him into the base he pulled the door open with his keycard and pushed them out, locking it immediately after.   
  


He could see their faces behind the door, inaudibly shouting at him. His gaze crossed Winwin’s, the only person who could still come along with him, but he glanced at him with all the iciness he could manage.

_ Don’t _ .

Once he was sure he wouldn’t be followed he turned back, running to where he had last seen Lucas.

He was on the floor, three soldiers kicking him, blood sparsely splattered around his chest. Even less promising, the debris of the seventh oxygen mask laid shattered onto the floor.

He burst in rage, using all the forces he had left to knock the three guards unconscious with some strength he didn’t know he had.

He fell to the ground seconds after, next to Lucas whose eyes were already fluttering.

“No, no no no” he murmured, eyes watery, hands not daring to touch him. He had visibly been shot, a wound that would have been mortal to a human. Lucas could be saved, especially by Kun and his medical knowledge and talent but that meant getting him out of here successfully, and dying. Ten could not breathe without a mask, surprisingly.

He didn’t care, he had to save him. Start again, go back. He could do better, he had to do better, he-

“ Ten...everyone survived. This is the better ending, don’t you see? Go, join them. You don’t have any more energy, if you turn back the time now you don’t have any insurance that it won’t be worse. “

Lucas’s soothing voice that he used to like so much, made him want to cry now.

“ Yeah, count on that. “

He started raising his hand but strong hands gripped onto his elbow, stopping him.

“ You’re not risking them for me “

“ Lucas, they are wounded, badly for some of them, and without you we’re short from the most powerful fighter in our group. It will be better next time, okay? We are not saved until all of us are safe.”

“ Ten it’s not worth it!!” he half-screamed, regretting it right after as more pain shot through his being.

He was dying, again, and Ten didn’t want to hold his lifeless corpse into his arms. Not now, or ever.

Understanding that he was too stubborn to let him go, he lowered his hand, immediately taking the oxygen mask off of his face and slamming it onto the ground.

“ See? If you don’t let me do it, I die too. What do you say about that, huh?”

It was a cruel way to meet his goal but the effect was immediate, Lucas let his arms fall to his sides, struggling to maintain consciousness. Well, he let one of his arms fall, the other got up to caress Ten’s cheeks, erasing the tears that had fallen on them.

“ You’re a damn idiot. You know that? “

Ten smiled, keeping the rest of his tears to fall down. “ Yeah, you’ve told me several times. “

“ There’s something I don’t think me from other timelines told you though “ he said, his eyes now fluttering.

“ What is it? “

“ I love you “

Ten stayed stunned for a few moments, before breaking down into a smile, a genuine one this time.

  
He brought one hand into the air, the other coming to rest on top of Lucas’s hand, still on his cheek.

“ I love you too “

He closed his fist, and the world around them froze.

_ Stop _

He closed his eyes, and began to turn his fist slowly counter-clockwise. The feel of Lucas’s body next to his faded, the smell of blood and gunpowder as well. Sounds he didn’t recognize echoed in his ears, drilled into his brain but he didn’t pay any attention to them.

_ Rewind _

Lucas was right on a point: he was dangerously low in energy. He couldn’t stop his limbs from trembling as he focused to get back as far as he could. Considering how hard to control his abilities was, the next escape had to be the final one, good case scenario or not. He hoped he had made the good choice.

_ Turn back time _ .

When he opened his eyes again he was in his cell, one similar to Kun’s and Yangyang’s, a knocked out guard on the floor and red key-card already in hand.

He immediately shot up, sticking his ear on the door.

No footsteps. Perfect.

He placed the red rectangle onto the captor of his cell and got out of the room, for what had to be the sixteenth time. He had never time traveled that much before.

His first stop was Xiaojun. His cell wasn’t far and there were no obstacles on the road so he was quick to find his friend.

“ Ten? You got out! “ he said, too happy to be left out of his plastic cell.

“ Listen Dejun we have to be fast. Down the corridor, there is a control panel inside the wall on the left, you can jam it with a strong enough impulse. Once it’s done it’ll open a service door you can use to discreetly get into the main control room. Jam the surveillance system for as long as you can. Oh, and there are oxygen masks into the service room. Please take some as well okay?” he said almost without taking his breath.

Xiaojun nodded, incorporating the pieces of information fast. He knew that if they were that detailed it meant that Ten had run through the situation several times, so he trusted him. They all trusted him, and Ten wasn’t going to fail them.

“ Good luck Ten. See you on the outside. “ he said with a little tap to his friend’s back.

“ See you on the outside “.

After that they split and Ten started running through the corridors again, stopping in front of Lucas’s room.

Usually...usually he’d get him out now. But every time he did so, Lucas died, most of the time protecting him.

_ I love you _ .

He reluctantly stepped back, eyes fixated onto his severed back. He’ll come back for him. And they’ll make it out of here, both of them.

He ran past his cell to Hendery’s. Problem was he didn’t have Lucas’s strength this time, so breaking the human-size aquarium he was trapped in revealed itself to be a little harder than before.

Luckily their salvation came in the shape of a pipe he was able to get out of the wall and slam into the glass, releasing a nearly-drowning Hendery.

" Y…yang.." was all he managed to get out of his severed lungs and shivering blue lips once Ten had helped him take a breath. It was enough for him to understand though, especially since he had heard those very words thirteen other times ( he didn’t get to Hendery’s cell the first two times.)

" He's the next person we'll go looking for, I promise. Don't worry " he said, rubbing soothing circles onto his back.

Now he had no choice but to take the drowsy teenager on his own back as he made his way, once again, to Yangyang’s cell.

As soon as the key card opened the door Hendery jerked himself away from Ten ‘s back and crawled his way to Yangyang’s frame which was lying motionless in a corner.

“ Yangyang, hey Yangyang can you hear me? “ he murmured, his voice finally back as he put his hands on both sides of his lover’s face.

His eyes fluttered as he came back to consciousness, immediately widening when they fell on Hendery. He shot up and engulfed him in a bone-crushing hug, one of the rare sights - if not the only sight - Ten was actually happy to see over and over.

Both he looked away with a smile, giving the teenagers the privacy they deserved after this nightmare of a week.

But as sweet as they were, they had no  _ time _ .

“ Hendery, Yangyang, we have to go. We still have to get Winwin and Kun free. “ said Ten, still hating to break their moment.

Yangyang turned back to him, revealing his unsurprising but still terrifying white scar that rested on his right cheek.

“ Is my dad okay? “ he asked with a small voice, afraid of the answer.

“ He will be if we hurry. Can you carry Hendery or do you want me to-”

“ It’s okay, I’ll do it “ he stated before he could finish his sentence, all traces of weakness gone from his being as he took his boyfriend on his back, leading the way out of the room.

“ Teenagers “ said Ten with a small laugh. But well, this time no one was here to hear him.

He bit his lip, repeating his self-promise to get out of here with Lucas. No matter what.

The next stop was Winwin’s cell, who was in the better shape out of all of them. Which was setting the bar low, but still. Ten ran up to him to free his hands and legs of the multitude of chains that crippled them and left dangerously red marks.

“ I know you have very little energy left so don’t teleport unless very necessary, okay? “ he advised, to what Winwin nodded.

They were quick to get to what was usually the final cell, Kun’s cell, and if it wasn’t for Hendery on his back Yangyang probably would have collapsed.

His walls which probably used to be padded with white material were lacerated, full of scratch marks. His hands were red, his nails damaged and his body bruised, but he was alive.

So far, they were all alive.

Their pilot slowly got up, his eyes staring into the void until they fell onto Yangyang, and only then did he allow a tear to roll down his cheek, immediately wiping it out to hug his son, careful not to crush his boyfriend in the process.

“ I...I tried to escape and come to look for you, all of you but I didn’t...I didn’t…”

“ ‘Pa, it’s okay. It’s okay “ said his son, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

Ten didn’t take the time to smile at the sight because he knew in a few seconds the guards would understand they were escaping.

As if on cue an alarm starting blaring into the hallways, ricocheting on each and every one of them, who all had the same expression of terror onto their faces.

They moved as fast as possible for five deeply wounded men including one who was too weak to walk, the alarms rendering them nearly death, adrenaline shooting through their veins.

Sounds of steps, not theirs this time, started to echo through the facility, coming closer and closer.

The first person they saw was Xiaojun, running at full speed towards them, a bag full of oxygen masks in his right hand. The second, third, fourth and fifth person they saw were the guards running right behind him, guns in hand, ready to shoot.

“ RUN “ immediately screamed Ten, and the six - well five, Hendery still was on Yangyang’s back - obliged in seconds.

“ Where is Lucas?” Ask, or well rather shouted Kun at the team’s time traveler.

“ Still in his cell “ he answered. “ Don’t worry, I know what I am doing “

Or at least he really hoped he knew.

This apparently was a good enough answer for Kun who kept on running.

“ Turn right now, not left! The door is at the end of the corridor. Xiaojun, can you give me two masks please? “ he said, happy to see they had apparently outran the guards, buying them a few precious seconds.

Xiaojun obliged again, and this time it was his turn to put a hand on Ten’s shoulder.

“ Good luck. Both of you come back, alright? “

“ That’s the plan. “

He sent a glare to their captain who nodded and started leading everyone towards the exit.

They had been fast enough, they would make it.

As for Ten, he ran back to where his and Xiaojun’s cells were, careful not to run into any of the facility’s guards.

One he was there he carefully went into the service room which door was still unlocked and to the air vents. Xiaojun had been busted so it would be dumb to go to the control room but nothing kept him from going towards Lucas’s cell.

He dragged himself through the thinning pipes, battling against claustrophobia as well as he could. Finally he reached a ventilation grille that he could just push down to access the corridor.

He waited for some guards to pass before slamming it down, to happy to finally get out of there.

Lucas was not curled up in a ball anymore but standing up, slightly crouched, both hands against the plexiglass door, probably alerted by the alarm.

He jumped of surprise when he saw Ten fall down the ceiling, but soon a small smile replaced his frown and Ten swore he could kill or get killed for this smile.

He place the key-card onto the designated slot and as soon as the door open he lunged forward, not letting Lucas speak, directly embracing him with his arms and kissing him as if his life depended on it, eager to memorize the shape of his lips so he could never forget them, no matter what happened.

Surprise came back onto the younger’s face but he answered nonetheless, too happy to have the small time-traveler between his arms even if he wasn’t sure of what was happening.

When they parted Ten pecked his lips once more, before taking the oxygen masks out of the bag, tossing it aside and placing both the devices onto their lips and nose.

“ Don’t ask, please “ he said as he proceeded, and Lucas had the decency to oblige.

He took one of his hand and they were out of the room in a flash, running through the corridors towards the door that would bring them back to the white nothingness of the moon, to their ship and crew, to liberty.

It didn’t take long for them to run into guards but Lucas, in his usual fashion, ran into them - literally this time - and slammed them into a wall, clearing the pathway in seconds.

When they got to the door they shared a bewildered look, unable to believe that what they were living was real but it was. It absolutely was.

Lucas pulled down the lever that opened the door and right before it closed tore it to pieces between his fingers.

He was one of the most peaceful out of them but Weishenies trafficators didn’t deserve anything, and certainly not a chance to capture his friends or his...his  _ Ten _ again. Too bad for them, huh.

They ran as they could manage to the ship that had waited for him and started breathing again only when it took off, taking the seven away from the nightmare they had been trapped in for a week - and well for some even a bit longer.

The first thing Ten said when he snatched his mask off of his face was a statement that would change his life from now on, he knew that, but he didn’t care. Now he wanted to live, with Lucas maybe, live as if he was normal and nothing ever happened.

Now was the time to go  _ forward _ .

“ I am never, ever time-traveling again “


End file.
